Tag Archives: training business

3 Realizations About Training Now

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It’s been awhile since you’ve been in a classroom, hasn’t it? If you haven’t delivered a class/course/workshop online yet, you’re probably in the minority of active trainers. At the very least, you’ve likely been a participant in a webinar or some other online training.

We’ve gotten used to accessing Zoom or GoToWebinar or Adobe Connect.

We know how to share our screens and conduct polls.

We use a microphone we like (or have tried).

We monitor chat and Q & A closely.

We teach online, live and in-person – just not in the same place as our students.

So why do I feel like something’s missing? I’ve come to realize three things about the difference between live, in-person and live, online instruction that I’d like to share.

  • I get very tired when I teach online. At first, I thought it was just me, but after speaking with a number of other trainers I’ve come to the conclusion that online training is exhausting. When I am in a room with a group of people, there is a give and take that occurs as I present and we discuss a topic. I can feed off the energy in the room. I use different kinds of activities to change the pace of instruction. When I teach online, no matter how much I utilize breakout rooms, polls, Q & A, or chat, I am always on. I must maintain a high level of energy to keep students watching and participating.
  • I miss seeing students’ reactions. If I am using Zoom Meetings, I can see students’ faces on video if I take the time to look. Most of the time, though, I’m busy presenting and running the class. And let’s face it, not all of our students understand the concept of lighting the face or proper camera angle (I do tell them I don’t want to see ceiling fans). There are times, though, when I’m presenting a webinar with no view of students. In a classroom, I can quickly take in the room and see the students’ reactions to the material I present. I can adjust my delivery based on the expressions or body language I see. I’m grateful for the ability to see faces in the online classroom, but I do miss seeing the non-verbal cues I have often relied on.
  • The informal interaction with students is missing. Sure, we have Q & A and chat options available for students to ask questions or comment. I use these functions to create engagement in the online classroom. I have found that people are less likely to ask a more individual question or make comments of a personal nature in an online class. I like fielding questions during a break or after a class because I get to hear other perspectives or help someone understand the material more fully. I miss these informal conversations. I always invite students to connect with me in other ways after the class (email, website, social media), but we lose the immediacy of the need to speak with me as the instructor when the online class ends.

These “realizations” are my observations after several months of teaching online-only classes. Others may share these or not. I am not advocating for an early return to in-person instruction to satisfy my wants and desires.

Online instruction will not go away with the end of the pandemic. With more dispersed workforces and the need to bring current, relevant training to them on a regular basis, online training will continue to be one vehicle we choose to supply that training. These realizations inform how I approach my role as the trainer/teacher in the online space. I need to be aware of them and constantly work to ameliorate their effects on me and the students.

Repurpose Your Content

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Once upon a time, to teach meant that you stood or sat in a classroom in front of people and engaged in activities designed to help those people learn something. You might have lectured or presented concepts, theories, or formulas. You might have demonstrated how to perform an activity or experiment. You might have engaged the people in the classroom in a discussion about a topic or a reading. When the time for the class was up, you left the room and interacted with the people only if they had questions or needs, and they most likely came to you during specific times when you were available for consultation.

The content for these classes was in a notebook or file folder, prepared and maintained by you, the instructor. If you shared anything, it was in the form of paper handouts. Sometimes you prepared manuals for distribution to the participants in your classes. In some cases, you may have added audio cassettes or CDs for participants to use when reviewing the lessons. Each person had their own set of materials for their own use.

Times have changed, haven’t they? We are less likely to be in a classroom these days, and the materials we provide may be documents, videos, or audio files stored on a website that participants in training access on their own, according to their needs. The ability to provide new materials and make changes to previous versions has also made updating course content faster (and easier, in my opinion). We are connected to students in a variety of ways: Email, text message, social media, and learning management systems, to name a few.

I believe that the nature of teaching and learning has also changed. We still conduct formal training sessions to present material and give students the opportunity to ask questions and practice; however, there are also informal, social learning opportunities as well. The content we prepare for formal learning can be repurposed and used for informal learning as well.

I have been creating short “Quick Tip” videos for some time. Each one explains to real estate agents how to do something for their business and in some cases, why it’s important. The content for these videos comes from the material I regularly train on in my classroom sessions. Because these are short “Quick Tips,” I use discrete lessons that can be presented in two to four minutes in a video. I typically use no visual aids, and it’s just me in the frame of the video.

These videos are distributed to my social channels (YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn). They also sit on a page on my website. I invite viewers to comment and subscribe, but most people will see the video through social channels as they view their newsfeeds. Recently I took one of the “tracks” we teach as part of the Floyd Wickman Program, the “Referral Lead Generator,” and created a short “how to” video:

I can use this video as a short reminder lesson for students in the program, to promote my business as a Floyd Wickman trainer, and to simply connect with past students who may have forgotten the technique and want to review it for their use. Eventually this video will be linked to my email signature where I invite people to view my latest “Quick Tip.” It gives a broad audience a taste of what I train on and how I present the content.

When I create videos, I order captions and a transcript from an online service. The transcript of the video can be stand-alone content for a blog post or website page. Many podcasts double as audio and video files, distributed to different channels for different purposes. Webinars can be recorded and offered for on-demand learning on a learning management platform or other website. Repurposing content is taking what you have already prepared and using it in a different way.

People learn in different places, at different times, and by different means than they did 20 or 30 years ago. By repurposing your training content and making it available via different channels, you are more likely to reach more students (and potential students) than you might by confining your teaching to the classroom.

Time Off (And What To Do With It)

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I initially thought of calling this post “What to do when you’re not working.” The problem with that is for some of us, we’re spending a lot of time not working. Or at least not doing the work we want to do or we were trained to do. For those of us who are independent trainers, the pandemic has caused us to retool our businesses, pivot to different methods of delivery, and/or  spend time perfecting our online delivery of training classes. What happens when you don’t have classes scheduled though?

Sure, it’s summer. Time for picnics and vacations. (Or maybe not this year.) Here’s one thing I know about this time we’re in now: There’s a difference between the time you set aside for pleasurable activities and the time you have off because you don’t have the work you planned for or were able to book.

So what do you do? I can always find a book to read, a video to watch, a new online class to take, or a webinar to watch. Some of this qualifies as continuing education and I participate in it happily. I think we all need to keep learning and employing what we learn in our training. However, I am, like many of the people I talk to, getting tired of watching webinars. I find myself registering for what looks like an interesting presentation and then not attending because I just don’t want to click on another link.

I have books on my shelf that I’ve wanted to read for some time that are waiting for me to pick them up and start or continue reading. I find references to new titles as I read articles and I quickly reserve them at the library for pick up. As time goes on, I begin to feel bad about not reading these books despite having the time to do so.

Instead of feeling bad about not utilizing my time well, I’ve employed a few tactics to keep me engaged and working toward my goals. Here are my ideas for ways to stay working when you’re not:

  • Make a Schedule: I look at my week overall and determine when I will do what each day. I have my previously scheduled appointments, my “business development” time, and regular calls and video conferences. I also create a “top five” list of things to do most days. These keep me on task and working. I schedule my reading and exercise time to ensure that I do these important activities. I love to read, but I often feel guilty about taking the time to sit and read a book. Sometimes I listen to audiobooks while I exercise or do other tasks and then I feel very productive!
  • Say No: Sometimes you just can’t add anything else to your load. It might seem like you have a lot of time to take on another task, but really, can you? I ask myself this every time I see an announcement for an interesting meeting to attend, webinar to watch, or group to join. Sometimes the best response is to say no and focus on the things you really want to do.
  • Practice: For those of us who earn our living teaching and training others, if you’re not in a classroom teaching or presenting online, it may seem like you have nothing to do. Use the time to practice your delivery. If you update course content regularly, you’ll need to spend some time updating your presentation of the material. Find a room and practice. When I moved classes online, I updated the courses to reflect the difference between presenting online vs. in a classroom. Then I fired up Zoom and practiced a bit. Don’t forget to record yourself so you can review the results and continue to refine your presentation.
  • Commit to Learn: There are always new things to learn, but we might need to be choosy about what we commit to do. Where are the gaps in your knowledge? What would help you do your job better? There are likely online courses out there that can help you learn something new or deepen your understanding of a subject. I belong to the Training Magazine Network, and online, social learning community that sponsors webinars and courses for training professionals. I have found TMN to be a great source of information and assistance over the years.
  • Help Others: Sometimes you need to get out of your own head and help someone else. The shift in focus from your problems to someone else’s issues can bring about a clarity you wouldn’t otherwise have. Helping others can take many forms. I’m spending my summer leading a “squad” of women who are all members of the Ellevate Network. I act as a moderator for the group and coordinate our weekly online meetings. It’s not a lot of work, but it does feel good to help others.

These are just a few ideas that I have used to be more intentional about my time and my work this summer. It’s good to have time off to relax and play. It’s also good to use our time well so that we live well.

Six Social Media Tips for the Trainer

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When I started my first Facebook business page for training at HER Realtors eight years ago, I did it to learn the ins and outs of Facebook so that I could teach it to agents. Social media was already a marketing tool utilized by a few agents to gain business and stay in touch with their sphere of influence. More and more agents wanted to learn the tool, so I took the plunge and constructed the page.

Much of what I learned back then has been updated as Facebook has changed over the years. I’ve added LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram to my repertoire of social media channels that I teach. I’ve had the benefit of learning from social media experts for real estate such as Katie Lance and Marki Lemons-Rhyal, too. It became apparent to me early on that teaching social media is only part of the story. I began to use social media to promote training internally and now in my business generally.

There are many resources out there to guide you in your use of social media: Books, articles, webinars, videos, and infographics. I’ve written about using social media for the marketing of training previously. I’d like to pass on just a few tips and techniques that I have learned while using social media to promote training:

  • Use video: Get over yourself and create videos to teach, inform, and entertain your audience. Create a playlist and promote the playlist in your video as a way to get people to pay attention to your content. Use a captioning service such as Rev to get captions and a transcript. Add the captions when you post the video and include the transcript in the comments. There are several reasons to use captions, but my favorite is that the majority of people watching video on Facebook do so with the audio muted. If you add captions, people are more likely to watch. Don’t forget live videos, either!
  • Create and use a Content Grid: To answer the most common question I get (“What do I post?”), I tell agents to create a content grid with categories and descriptions of the types of content you can (and will) post. Then, when you sit down to create your posts, refer to the content grid for ideas. You will begin to post interesting content on a regular basis (because you no longer need so much time to generate ideas) which will get you noticed more often.
  • Repurpose your content: When you spend time creating a video or blog post, don’t just use it once, post it on multiple channels. When I create a “Real Estate Quick Tip” video, it gets posted first on YouTube, then later on Facebook, and then the next week on LinkedIn. The transcript could also be the basis of a longer blog post, or I could use bits and pieces for shorter posts.
  • Share carefully: Most social media sites don’t like you sharing links that send people to another website. They sometimes punish these posts by not displaying them in people’s newsfeeds or on their timelines. It may be a good idea to share an article or video, however. One technique is to create the post, then place the link to the article or video in the comments. Tell people in the post to look for the link in the comments.
  • Use hashtags and tag others: Most social media sites favor content that is searchable (via hashtags) and engages others (likes, comments, and shares). To get more views of your content, use hashtags that will make it searchable and tag people when appropriate. When I share an article, for example, I tag the author. This gets their eyes on the post and they will probably “like” it which means all of their connections/friends/followers will see the post. The more engagement a post gets, the more often it will appear when your people view the social media channel you posted in.
  • Monitor views and responses: The benefit to using social media to promote your training is that you can access analytics to tell you how many people are seeing your content and what type of content your audience favors. Use the analytics available to you on Facebook to also determine what time of day you should post. These free tools are on all the platforms I use, and I check them on a regular basis to determine what sorts of posts get the most attention (hint: videos and pictures rate highly!).

There are many ways to promote your training programs, and social media can be an important  tool in your marketing tool bag. Consider where your audience hangs out (LinkedIn? Twitter?) and how you will get them to see your content (do you ask them to like your Facebook page?). If you’d like to see examples of what I do to create interest for my training on social media, like my Facebook page, subscribe to my YouTube channel, or connect with me on LinkedIn!

Life In The New Normal

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Some days are better than others in this “new normal.” I create my daily list of things to accomplish and work through them with little difficulty. I’m inspired, creative, and enthusiastic. The sun shines, cool breezes waft through my window, the dog takes naps during my phone calls and online training sessions, and I’m working as efficiently and effectively as I can. Life is good.

Rewind that blissful video to two weeks ago. It was a day full of activity and positive outcomes. And then I tripped on the sidewalk in front of my house and began a period of lost days and head pain. What I thought was a simple tumble turned out to be a concussion. I can’t remember hitting my head, but I did.

When your daily activity is reduced to lying around and trying not to upset the delicate balance of head and stomach, you spend a lot of time thinking about what matters and how to get back to some semblance of normality. I pushed myself to get on Zoom calls and participate in a team meeting, but my body revolted. Back to bed! it said quite emphatically.

During this time of enforced rest, I had to cancel a class I was supposed to deliver online. I realized that there was no way I could deliver a three-hour continuing education class without incident. It’s one thing to fight through a normal headache to do your job. I’ve done it and managed well enough. It’s an entirely different situation to try to ignore a head injury and give students the kind of training they deserve. I missed the income, for sure, but I’m glad to have recognized that I was in no condition to be an effective speaker or trainer.

As time from the injury has passed, I am recovering my ability to make to-do lists and accomplish the tasks on those lists. I feel a real loss of time, though. Yes, I have days when all I want to do it go on vacation where I can escape the mundane. When inactivity is enforced, it’s a different situation altogether. Now, I want those hours and days back when I could have been working toward my goals. I want the joy of accomplishment. When someone asks about this period I want to be able to say I did more than catch up on listening to podcasts and “read” audiobooks. Those kinds of activities don’t necessarily advance my career or business. I feel very unproductive as a result.

I have come to recognize that this drive to always be doing can be dangerous. We get sucked into the idea that only certain activities count and that everything else is fluff. Although I was in pain, I was able to appreciate this enforced inactivity as a time to consider what I want to do with my business and life. I’ve found that I actually enjoy delivering training online. I love to write and produce content people might find helpful. The “new normal” has allowed me the space to consider how to move forward.

I am still recovering and will probably need more time to feel like I did before the injury. Things will get back to “normal” slowly, but surely. It’s hard to wait for that to happen because I have plans and ideas I want to pursue. I guess that’s a good sign that recovery has begun.

Live! And Online

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Please, please stop saying “unprecedented” when referring to this global pandemic! It might be a hot mess or crazy times, highly unusual or extraordinary, but please call it something other than unprecedented. We’ve heard that before. Help me to consider the current situation in a different light and you’ll have my attention.

I’ve had to think of my training business in a different way when it became apparent that the pandemic changed how people need to get training. Online training has existed for some time. There are self-paced, digital courses available in many fields. Anyone visiting the “support” or “help” areas on websites for assistance sees many examples of training tools designed to help an end user navigate the steps necessary to do just about anything. These types of training are necessary to provide, but they don’t make up the majority of the type of training I provide.

So what about synchronous training? You know, live, in person training courses that advance a learner to proficiency in a subject or skill. Is it possible to convert that type of training to an online version? I think so. I believe there is the opportunity to engage students in the online space that is not the same as in a classroom, but can still provide a similar experience.

There is also the need to create online versions of static professional development classes. These are often continuing education courses that professionals need because a state regulatory agency recognizes the need to keep licensees updated in their respective fields. The content may not change often, but it does change over time. With no opportunities to meet in a classroom for the foreseeable future, the professional using existing digital offerings depends on classes that are updated infrequently with no opportunity to interact with the instructor or other students.

Classroom training can be converted to online opportunity. What will attract the person who wants to learn the material? In a word: Interaction. A class offered live, online can have a degree of interaction with the instructor and other participants, depending on the platform used to deliver the class. In addition to interaction, current offerings can also deliver up-to-date material.

Here are five strategies I’ve used to convert my classroom-based classes to the online environment:

  • Change the presentation to fit the online environment: You may need more or less words on the slide, depending on how you normally construct your presentations. Consider using different kinds of graphics to illustrate your points. You might want to use video and animation to break up the monotony of the slide deck.
  • Use breakout rooms: Consider using a platform that gives you the ability to assign participants to breakout rooms where they can discuss topics in small groups. Give them questions or topics to discuss in a handout (either send it to them prior to the class and/or let them download it from the platform). Have one person report out of the group when the participants reconvene.
  • Step up their participation: Use polls to solicit answers to questions or feedback. Use techniques such as “Write this down,” “Raise your hand if . . . ,” “wave if you . . . ,” “Write in the chat box . . . .” Take people off mute if they have questions or comments. If you’re asking them to give feedback in the chat or questions features of the platform, read them and respond. You have to be intentional about involving people online because you won’t be able to judge their reactions to what you’re saying as you would in the classroom.
  • Use your webcam: Yes, it’s disconcerting to think that the participants are seeing you but you are probably not seeing them. Talk to the camera and imagine you’re speaking to one (or more). Use gestures. Be animated. Don’t just read the slides!
  • Give them a break: Depending on the length of the class, consider working in a break. Most people can’t sit and pay attention for more than 90 minutes. If your class is an hour in length, there’s probably no need for a break.

All of these adaptations require work. Reevaluate the content of the class. What is essential? What is fluff? Make a meaningful experience for your participants. Give them a reason to be there with you for a live online class. Make it an extraordinary experience.

New Year – New Business

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The beginning of a new year is traditionally the time when we create new goals to attain during the year. It’s a clean slate where anything we want can happen. These may be personal goals or they might be business goals, depending on your situation. I set very different goals for 2020 than I have in the past.

My new year began with a renewal of sorts and a big change. For over eight years, I’ve served in the corporate training department of a large, independent real estate company. Most recently, I was the Director of Training and Professional Development. I’ve taught new and existing agents sales and technology skills. I’ve managed the budget, engaged outside trainers, produced a company convention, and handled a myriad of administrative duties. Over the course of the last year, I decided to leave this position and strike out on my own as an independent trainer. I began 2020 as a trainer for the Floyd Wickman Team, resolved to create my professional world according to my goals.

I have been trained to be able to present the Floyd Wickman Program to real estate agents across the United States. Unlike my past role, my ability to train agents will depend on connecting with like-minded brokerages that see the value of spaced training for real estate agents that focusses on creating a repeat and referral business. In other words, I have to work for the opportunity to present the program.

I believe strongly in the power of the Program. I have seen many agents participate and become stronger and more confident in their abilities as real estate agents. Agents who take the Program average one transaction (one listing, one sale, or one listing sold) per person, per week with more production coming after the Program ends. Most agents who take the Program are in the bottom 50% of their brokerages in terms of production. Most can really use this kind of production!

But why such an abrupt change in professional direction? I saw my training become perfunctory and routine. The minutiae of running a training department began to weigh more heavily on me each day. I have found that I am happiest when I am in front of a group of people, speaking, training, teaching, and motivating them to be better. Ultimately, I want to be able to affect lasting change in the people I train. Independence gives me the opportunity to focus on the aspects of training I can use to do this.

I decided to maintain my certification as a Realtors Property Resource trainer and to market my services as a continuing education instructor for real estate also. Being able to teach multiple topics gives me the flexibility to offer different kinds of classes for different purposes.

I am not the first nor the last person to leave a corporate job in hopes of creating a sustainable business as an independent trainer. I know that much of my success will depend on my ability (and tenacity) to find people who are willing to let me teach their people. It is a privilege to stand in front of a group of real estate agents and help them achieve their goals. In return, I am able to achieve mine. For that, I am profoundly grateful.